


Space Encounters

by anonymousstoryperson



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Aliens, Crash Landings, Gen, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Sort Of, Tony and Nebula are bros, Tony is a God, Tony is a dumbass but it all works out, i love them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-22
Updated: 2020-02-22
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:54:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22843603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anonymousstoryperson/pseuds/anonymousstoryperson
Summary: Tony and Nebula run into new aliens on their way back to Earth. For once, this isn't a bad thing
Relationships: Tony Stark & Nebula, Tony Stark & The Stark
Comments: 5
Kudos: 124





	Space Encounters

Tony and Nebula had been in space for no more than two weeks when something went incredibly wrong. At least, at that moment.

They had just reached the point when the Benatar had stopped flying smoothly through the cosmos and had started drifting at a snail’s pace instead. The reality was that they could not get it going again, and they were trapped with a very finite amount of food, water and air.

Tony had, to put it lightly, went a bit manic. He had just lost his kid, he was not about to lose his chance to see Pepper again. Not if there was a chance that she had survived. 

In the end, the climax had been a fuse, a spilt-second decision, Nebula’s sudden yell for him to stop, and then they were hurtling off-course, flying and spinning and burning up-

They crashed somewhere. It wasn’t Earth, but it wasn’t the endless void of space, so Tony wasn’t about to complain, either. Ground meant a planet, and a planet meant possible food and water. Maybe even aliens who could help them fix the ship. 

Scratch that- Tony thought dazedly, as the air in the ship turned thick and ashy, like he had an exhaust pipe stuck down his throat-

Maybe it wasn’t one of my best ideas.

“Nebula?” he croaked, pushing himself to his elbows and coughing, “Blue Meanie? Optimus Prime? You there?”

He tried to calculate where she would have landed, based on the velocity of the ship during the initial lurch and then the angle of the ship during the crash. He turned, steadying himself on a displaced beam as he pointed vaguely. “Would have been thrown from there to…” his hand moved, “then- Neb!”

He could see her now, or part of her at least. Part of the ship had caved in over her, and she seemed dazed. Tony staggered over to her, hacking weakly as the polluted air irritated his throat. Her arm was twisting and clicking back into place in front of him. 

“Nebula? Neb?” He called out as he got closer, but with every inhale he choked on smoky air, and the creaking and sparking of their trashed ship drowned out any response she could have given.

Something tripped him up on the way, and the handhold he managed to find gave way under him, leaving him to crash into something sharp and painful. He cried out, eyes screwed shut against the pain. He squinted after a moment, trying to get his bearings, and eventually his eyes were drawn to a hole in the ship, giving him a sub-par view of the murky, alien sky.

He could see something- or someone- vaguely, overhead. A thought flitted through his head, that it looked very similar to someone in his own armour, before he was lost to the world again.

The next time he was conscious, he could breathe properly again, and none of his injuries were calling his attention. The air was clean and the room was bright. Above him, the ceiling curved in a dome-like shape, high above his head. He tried to estimate the size of the dome from his small segment, and concluded that if it was a full dome, it must cover at least half a square mile. 

“You’re awake.” Nebula’s voice pulled him back down to the present, urgent beside him. “Are you healed? In pain. If their medical attention was not sufficient I will-“

“I’m gonna cut off what was bound to be a brilliant threat and say I’m fine.” He brushed off, pushing himself to sit upright. He was unused to this sort of violent protectiveness Nebula had crafted for him ever since the rations started disappearing, but that didn’t make him any less fond of her. “I actually feel pretty awesome, considering we crashed head-first into a planet.”

“You mean you crashed headfirst. It was your doing.”

“Yeah, I know. My bad. Still, we ended up somewhere and alive, so I’m counting it as a win.”

Now that he was alert and calm, he took the chance to observe his surroundings. Luckily, his expectations for an alien planet were fulfilled in a way that Titan hadn’t, in that he was surrounded by machinery that definitely wasn’t found on Earth. Something about it all seemed familiar in a way he couldn’t describe, though. Had a movie he had seen been more accurate than he realised?

“Hey, did you see who brought us in?” he asked her after a moment.

“Yes. They are purple beings, six feet tall and all dressed in some form of armour. They seem very interested in where we have come from, and what resources our own planets have, though I have given nothing. They seem content to wait until you have awoken.”

Huh. Kind of fishy, maybe a red flag. “Do they seem like the kind of guys who would be willing to help us fix the ship?”

“They’ve already taken it apart and taken any useful resources left for themselves.”

Ah. That didn’t bode well for them. 

“So we’re dealing with vultures.”

“I don’t know what they are.”

“Predator birds from Earth. Take anything they can, circle dying animals waiting for their chance to eat it, that sort of scavenger.”

“Oh. Then yes.”

“Probably asking about our planets so they can scavenge for the resources?”

“Most likely.”

“Shit.”

He scrubbed a hand down his face, and only then realised the feeling of something in his ear, just under the skin. When he felt for it, Nebula explained. “They noticed that you were without a universal translator, so they fitted you one while they healed you.”

“Seriously? How the hell does that work?”

Once Nebula had explained, they had about ten minutes to distract themselves with the workings of the translator before a wall slid open to create a doorway, through which one of the aliens stepped through. They were like Nebula described, which wasn’t ideal given the similarity to the nightmare they’d left behind on Titan, but there weren’t many options otherwise. The being was definitely far taller than Tony himself, and appeared partly-bionic.

“Oh,” the alien exclaimed, realising that both were conscious, “I just came to check on your status. We weren’t sure how effective the anaesthesia would be on your species, but luckily you look unaffected by it. Any remnant pain? Drowsiness? Anything?”

“No, looks like you patched me right up.”

They smiled. “Not a worry. Your ship took much more damage – I’m afraid it wouldn’t have lifted off the ground again.”

Tony grimaced slightly, the reminder of their stolen transport souring his mood. “Well, nice to meet you, and thanks for saving our asses back there. This is my buddy Nebula, and I’m Tony Stark.”

Whatever reaction he had expected from naming themselves, an alien bluescreening in front of him wasn’t exactly what he would have put his money on. But there he was, their face slack as he stared at him like he had grown four heads.

“Truly?” they asked breathlessly. Tony frowned.

“Yeah. That’s my name. That a problem?”

They didn’t give a verbal answer, instead dropping to one knee, head bowed low to mask their frantic muttering.

Tony blinked, glancing to Nebula, but she had no answers either. 

“…Right,” he said after he rebooted, “Not that this isn’t flattering- and it is, this is probably the first time I’ve been bowed to- but someone needs to explain just a bit. How do you know me?”

“We are the Stark race.”

That… Tony would admit right now, he did not see that coming.

“Years ago, we were a primitive species. Then a weapons cache crash landed on our planet. When our ancestors uncovered it, we took this gift and used it to create the society you see before you. They swore our loyalty to the god that sent them, that launched our world into a golden era of knowledge and technology.”

Tony could only blink, thinking back to years ago. Stark Industries had been certain that cache had been accidentally lost to space due to an employee’s incorrect calculations. Funnily enough, he was sure that it was that exact mistake which had brought Pepper into his office all that time ago, yelling that the overlooked mistake could cost the company thousands. Looks like it had been good for something. If Tony got back to Earth, he’d have to track down that fired employee and send him a gift basket. 

Eventually, they were given a tour of the place, giving Tony the chance to geek out over how far this species had taken his old tech. Also, being able to say “This pleases me.” For an utterly serious response was incredible. Rhodey would have been having the time of his life.

Everywhere they went, they were engulfed in colossal domed structures, with the occasional tunnelled pathway to the next one. Each dome had a strip splitting it in two, which glowed in what Tony assumed was the equivalent position of the sun, creating a realistic day and night within the domes while also being the main source of light.

Tony noticed very quickly how much these domes had been adapted in similar ways, mostly because he didn’t see any possible way to get outside for another hour. The Stark group had finally brought them to look at their own spaceships- warships, really. They were clearly made for attacking. There were two airlocks in this particular dome. The one behind them was big enough to let the ships through, and the other seemed to be for individual use. It was probably how they were brought in.

“What’s outside the domes?” he asked, gesturing to the airlock ahead, “Didn’t have much chance to check out the wildlife while I was dying out there.”  
He was met with muttering, before one brave soul found the courage to speak up. “You can survive outside?”

Tony frowned. “What do you mean ‘survive’?”

“The planet as we know it is too toxic to support life. There are no more resources, no food or animals that could thrive out there. That is why we must take what we can from other planets, to ensure the survival of our people.”

So the unbreathable air hadn’t just been smoke from their crash- without their bio-domes, this planet would be entirely inhabitable.

“Vultures. Called it.” Tony muttered, nudging Nebula. Not being skewered immediately said a lot about how close they had gotten since Titan.

“Forgive us, Lord Tony,” one of them pleaded, “But we have no other choice. Our planet no longer has the resources to sustain us. Our survival depends on finding more, wherever that may be.”

Tony almost grinned. “Oh, my children.” He joked, and the seriousness in which they took it only made it funnier, “Don’t you see the cycle you trapped yourselves in? The universe is a big place, but eventually you’re gonna use up every resource everywhere and then what? Your solution and survival is temporary at best, and that’s if no-one decides to fight back.”

“But I am a benevolent overlord,” he decided with dramatic flair, easing their sudden panic, “and will not punish you all for your actions made in ignorance, not if you truly wish to make amends. You need my guidance, not my wrath.” He turned at looked at the planet in front of him, mind churning through ideas even as he turned back to them. “You did what you could with what you had. Now-“ 

He turned to grin and wink at Nebula, who allowed herself a small humoured smile.

“My turn.”


End file.
